A farmer from Zug is hacked. One of his cows dies as a result

A farmer from Zug is hacked. One of his cows dies as a result - can a cyber attack now affect all farmers?

Farmer Bircher refused to pay 10,000 francs to a gang. A cyber security expert says: "Agriculture is where the banks and insurance companies were fifteen years ago."

Farmer Vital Bircher from Hagendorn in the canton of Zug receives a text message from his milking robot. It was no longer receiving data from the computer. Thinking nothing of it, he goes into the barn and sees that the milking machine's display is black. Bircher contacts the manufacturer of the machine. An employee tells him: "You've been hacked."

This incident occurred nine months ago, as first reported by the "Luzerner Zeitung". At the time, Bircher refused to pay the ransom of 10,000 francs demanded by the hackers. As a result, he was denied access to his data. This included important information on when his mother cows were inseminated.

Because Bircher was unable to find out exactly when a cow was inseminated and complications arose, the calf died in the womb and the cow had to be euthanized. Bircher is convinced that he could have saved the mother cow's life without the hacker attack. How could farmer Bircher have prevented the hacker attack?

When asked by the NZZ, Bircher says that the hacked computer was technically up to date: The farmer had only bought the device a year ago, it had Windows 11 installed and also an antivirus program.

Marc K. Peter, Professor of Digital Transformation at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, says that the case of the farmer from Zug is not atypical. One in ten SMEs in Switzerland has already been compromised by cyber criminals, as he found out in a study that investigated cyber attacks last year.

Industries such as agriculture, which are still in the process of digital transformation, are particularly affected, says Peter. He sees a similar accumulation of cases in municipalities and the army. The international and highly professional hacker gangs are deliberately targeting organizations that are still undergoing digital transformation. "In terms of cyber security, agriculture is where banks and insurance companies were fifteen years ago."

Farmer Bircher explains that he does not regularly store his data externally. Peter recommends making regular encrypted back-ups on external hard drives. And preferably on a rotating basis: on different external data carriers, in different locations. Because there are also cases where access to cloud data is blocked. Case two years ago: Milking machine paralyzed

The "Bauernzeitung" reported on a case similar to Bircher's two years ago in April. Back then, ransomware paralyzed a farmer's entire milking system. He had to set up an emergency milking parlor. This cost him time and money.

The Zug farmer Bircher was lucky that certain parts of his milking systems were disconnected from the computer. He was able to continue milking his livestock despite the hacker attack. If not, the financial loss, which already amounted to 6,000 francs, would have been significantly higher. This is because Bircher would not have had a contingency plan at hand.

This is the case for many small and medium-sized companies in Switzerland, says expert Peter. Ninety percent of companies are technically well protected against cyber attacks. But only around a third are organizationally prepared in the event of a hacker attack.

This involves simple things, such as storing passwords on external devices. Because once the laptop has been hacked, the data can no longer be retrieved. This is why companies should definitely run through emergency scenarios.

SMEs are also not where they should be when it comes to cyber insurance, says Peter. Only ten percent have taken out such insurance. Insurance covers financial losses and also helps with coping. Insurance employees help victims to take the right steps after an attack.

For Bircher, a farmer from Zug, the cyberattack is over. He is looking to the future and says he now carries out back-ups more often.